Theories on crime 4/6/10

Question 1

A. Cohen subcultural theory

Answer 1

Argues that delinquent behaviour is most likely to develop among w/c boys who do badly at school. They realise they cannot achieve success through ed as their w/c values are diff to the m/c values promoted by the ed system and will therefore be at the bottom of the official status hierarchy. Aar, they suffer status frustration - the anger felt because their aspirations are blocked. Therefore in order to achieve success and status, they form subcultures with other boys who are like them. The s/c inverts the mainstream values and therefore offers its members an illegitimate opportunity structure through which they can achieve status.

Question 2

Durkheim states that society is based on value consensus - shared norms and values and this creates ss.. To achieve this society has 2 mechanisms.

Answer 2

Socialisation - primary and secondary- through which society’s members learn the norms and values of their society
Social control -a system through which society ensures everyone abides by the norms and values through rewards and sanctions

Question 3

Durkheim states crime is 3 things

Answer 3

Inevitable- will always exist, it can be reduced but not eliminated
Universal - it’ll exist in every society because everyone is effectively socialised so they tend to deviate.
Functional - a certain amount of crime can benefit society bc the experience of crime can strengthen social bonds

Question 4

2 vital functions durkheim states crime performs for society

Answer 4

it reaffirms the boundaries of acceptable behaviour - every time a person breaks the law and is taken the court, the publicity of this reaffirms the existing values.

It can lead to social adaption and change by changing values

Question 5

3 functions of crime

Answer 5

It maintains social cohesion (durkheim) - when particularly horrific crimes have been committed, the community draws together and the sense of belonging to a community is then strengthened
It can provide a safety valve(davies) deviance can provide a relatively harmless expression dissatisfaction
to act as a warning device - A. Cohen- to show that society is malfunctioning

Question 6

3 evaluation of durkheim

Answer 6

fails to explain what causes crime
doesn’t explain why certain people are more likely to commit crime than others
fails to see that crime can be dysfunctional for some groups

Question 7

Merton - strain theory

Answer 7

crime exists because everyone shares the same goals in life but not everyone can achieve their goal through legitimate means - in the USA the American dream is shared by all members of society, but not all have the legit. means to achieve it. they then turn to illeg. means to achieve that goal Re-defined Durkheim’s concept of anomie to mean a reaction to to socially approved goals are impossible for the majority to achieve through legit. means. This results in a strain between people’s ambitions and their ability to ahcieve them legitim. so they turn to illegit. means to achieve their goals. Therefore people are under pressure to achieve their goals an Merton calls this strain to anomie.

Question 8

People can react to the pressure to achieve the American Dream in
five ways, some of which are legitimate, some are deviant and others
are criminal: name 3

Answer 8

1. conformity - majority - legit ways to achieve
2. innovation -illegal means to achieve the American dream
3. Retreatism - giving up on the AD and turning to alcohol or drugs

Question 9

3criticisms of Merton

Answer 9

Takes OCS atface value e.g that the wc are more criminal
doesnt explain why most members of the w/c dont break the law
fails to explain non-ut crimes such as vandalism

Question 10

3 criticisms of A cohen

Answer 10

Assumes value consensus
ignores female crimes
assumes all sc’s offer the same illegitimate opp structures

Question 11

Right realism

Answer 11

New right theory on crime

Question 12

RR theory on crime argues what

Answer 12

criminals chose to break the law
those who are badly socialised are more likely to break the law as humans are naturally greedy and selfish
therefore , crime is inevitable, it can only be reduced not eradicated
therefore, the role of the gov is tot punish the criminals , not to eradicate the mythical causes of crime.

Question 13

according to Right Realism what is the 3 causes of crime

Answer 13

biological differences
poor socialisation and underclass values
rational choice

Question 14

explain the development of the underclass and inadequate socialisation theory of the causeof crime according to rr

Answer 14

Murray argues that crime rate is increasing bc of the growing underclass which is increasing a s a result of welfare dependency. Dependency culture has led to a decline in marriage and increase in single mothers living on benefits . This means that men don’t have to take responsibility for their children, thus have no reason to work. The single mothers can’t socialise their children properly and the the lack of a male positive role model is particularly damaging to boys who lack discipline. Aar, these children cause much of the delinquent behaviour as they turn to neg role models who gain status through criminality rather than hard work.

Question 15

Rational choice theory (RR causes of crime)

Answer 15

Rational choice theory sees individuals as having free will/ Clarke argues that the decision to commit crime is a choice based on rational calculation of the likely consequence. If the perceived reward is greater than the possible cost of the crime, people are more likely to break the law. Clarke argues the rise in crime has been caused by the perceived costs of crime being low for the offenders. Felson argues, that for a crime to occur there needs to be a motivated offender, a suitable target and the absence of a capable guardian. In such instances offenders act rationally and commit a crime as the chance of getting caught is low.

Question 16

3 weakness’ of RR causes of crime theories

Answer 16

ignores wider structures causes of crime such as poverty
Fails to explain non-u crimes such as vandalism as well as crimes util. crimes
Overemphasises biological factors in causing crime

Question 17

Traditional Marxism argues society’s infrastructure determines its superstructure, which includes the state and the CJS. Their function is to serve r/c interests and maintain capitalism. Explain 3 ways in which they do this

Answer 17

1 The powerful, or r/c, dictate what constitutes crime and deviance through their control of the legislative process
2 The crimes of the powerful aren’t dealt as severely as those of the most deprived and exploited groups such as the unemployed
3 The law is disproportionately enforced against w/c and that therefore the OCS are inaccurate

Question 18

what causes crime according to trad marxists?

Answer 18

Capitalism causes crime bc its criminogenic -it causes crime by its very nature.

Question 19

According to Trad Marxists both the w/c and r/c break the law explain 3 ways in which the w/c can be led into crime by capitalism

Answer 19

Poverty - can lead them into crime as it can be the only way for them to survive
Capitalism is based on consumerism and materialism . Crime can be the only means through which people can obtain the products promoted by capitalism through advertising
The works are exploited which makes them feel alienated. This can lead to feelings of frustration which can result in aggression and non-util crimes such as vandalism.

Question 20

According to Trad Marxists both the w/c and r/c break the law explain 1 ways in which the r/c can be led into crime by capitalism

Answer 20

Capitalism encourages a ‘dog-eat-dog’ ruthless competition. Aar, the r/c commit white collar and corporate crimes such as tax evasion.

Question 21

The purpose of the law according to TM is to serve the interests of the r/c, it does so in which 3 ways?

Answer 21

The r/c can use their influence to direct the types of laws to be introduced as well as to prevent certain laws from being introduced

According to Reiman, the law is enforced selectively by the CJS as the police target w/c crimes and ignore the crimes of the powerful. This makes crime appear to be a w/c phenomenon thus turning wc members against each other and distracting them from the real cause of their suffering - capitalism.

Helps maintan FCC. E,g occasionally laws are passed on which seem to benefit the w.c however Pearce argues that such laws actually benefit the r/c , e.g. by keeping the works fit for work

Question 22

3 evaluation of TM

Answer 22

DETERMINISTIC - tend to view the behaviour of individuals as largely governed by external forces
Marxists do not fully explain why many wc people do not commit crime
Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates, e.g Japan

Question 23

New criminology - why do people commit crime?

Answer 23

Crime is a conscious choice by the wc to redistribute the wealth from the rich to the poor (Taylor et al sees crime as positive as its pro-revolutionary)

Question 24

3 criticisms of New criminology

Answer 24

ignores the effects of crime on the victims

Burke claims their positive view of crime doesn’t help us tackle or reduce crime rates

Feminists accuse Taylor et al of being gender blind -ignoring female crime

Question 25

Taylor et al says that to understand crime we need to understand 6 situations, give 3

Answer 25

The immediate origins of the deviant act- the context in which the deviant act happened

The act itself and its meaning tot he deviant - what act was committed and why

The immediate origins of social reaction - different responses to deviance from different people - is the deviant labelled by those groups as deviant or not?

Question 26

according to Left Realism what are 3 reasons why people commit crime

Answer 26

relative deprivation
subcultures
marginalisation

Question 27

explain one reason why people commit crime according to LR

Answer 27

subcultures - blocked opps to achieving the mainstream goals leads people to join sc’s . This is bc scs offer a solution to the feeling of relative deprivation. However the solution is not alwys through crime ; it can be to achieve wea;th/materialism through utilitarian crime, but it can be to gan spiritual comfort for the relative dep people feel

Question 28

explain another reason why people commit crime according to LR

Answer 28

Marginalisation - marginal groups are those who don’t have any goals to represent their interests so they don’t contribute to society or benefit from it . As there are no organisations to represent their views, they are powerless to use political means to improve their situation, they feel frustrated and resentful towards society and turn to non-util crimes such as violence as a way to express their frustration

Question 29

eval of LR

Answer 29

Marxists argue that LR ignore white collar and corporate crimes
LR base their theory on Functionalism which assumes value consensus exists, when it may not as everyone shares the mainstream values
Not all people feel relatively deprived commit crime

Question 30

Interactionist theory- Young

Answer 30

carried out a study of drug users in Notting Hill. He found that initially, the drug use was peripheral to the hippies’ lifestyle. However, increasing persecution and labelling by the control culture led to hippies increasingly to see themselves as outsiders. They began to form a subculture, with distinctive clothing and in which drug use became their central activity. This led to more police targeting and more drug use. So it is not the act itself that is deviant, but the societal reaction that makes it such. Also, the labelling of the act as deviant, led to the increase in the level of deviance

Question 31

Becker = interactionist theory on crime

Answer 31

No act is inherently criminal in itself, it only becomes criminal when it is defined as such. Thereforem, crime is a social construct and is not the nature of the act that makes it criminal, but the nature of society’s reaction to it. The criminal is the person who has been labelled as such. Moral entrepreneurs are people who lead a moral crusade to change the law in the belief that it’ll benefit those to whom its applied. Therefore its not the actual harmfulness of an act that makes it be legislated against, but rather the efforts of powerful individuals and groups who campaign to have an act defined as criminal. However, all this does it create a group of newly criminalised outsiders. It also expands the agencies control to impose new laws and label individuals as offenders, Not everyone in society gets labelled, it depends on their
interaction with the police , courts etc.
their appearance, background
the circumstance of the offence

Question 32

weaknesses of interactionist theory

Answer 32

deterministic
turns the criminals into victims of labelling which ignores their actual victims
fails to explain why people commit crime in the first place

Question 33

Outline two reasons why Functionalists

see crime as inevitable. [4 marks]

Answer 33

Functional – crime serves a positive purpose in
society as it re-affirms the boundaries of acceptable
behaviour thus ensuring social solidarity.

Universal – crime has always existed and will always
exist, it can only be reduced, but never entirely
eradicated.

Question 34

Outline two criticisms of traditional

Marxist theory on crime. [4 marks]

Answer 34

Deterministic – assumes people act according to the
ruling class ideology and will therefore commit crime
because capitalism is criminogenic and we live in a
capitalism society, when in fact most people,
regardless of their class background, are law abiding.

Crime rates remained high in communist societies.